Kevin Koger and the TE Postition

So I'm in the Toledo area and thus, like to see Toledoans doing well and I'm interested in the case with Kevin Koger. I saw that Koger developed a lot throughout the season. I was wondering, I heard that we went to Oklahoma to learn about their offense and their TE use. So the question is, Will we use Koger as much as OK used Gresham or is he gonna be used about half of the amount Gresham was used and half of how he was used this year?

depends on how comfortable tate is in the pocket. koger is a freak out on the field, you really can't cover him. put a LB on him he'll run past him, put a corner on him he'll out muscle him. if tate is comfortable (and i think he will be) KK will be a big part of the offense.

I don't expect UM to throw as much as Bradford and OU did last year, so that will limit Koger's opportunities compared to Gresham's. I do believe that in his limited role Koger will be an explosive playmaker.

Five years ago, Henne was rarely - if ever - asked to throw across the middle. There's too much that can happen (batted balls, overthrows that get picked off by safeties, a linebacker that goes unseen, etc.).

I do think Koger and the other TEs will get more receptions than last year, but I don't think it will be an exorbitant amount.

with Magnus, maybe there's a distinction to draw between priority targets for a pro-style pocket passer and a mobile roll-out passer.

I watched the 2 minute clip from spring drills, and DISCLAIMER, I assert this is pure speculation...but I think it's reasonable to foresee consistent use of Koger/Webb when Forcier (or Robinson/Sheridan/et al.) is a triple-threat rolling out of the pocket (to toss back to a sweeping TB, keep the ball and run, or shuttle the ball forward to his blocking TE or out to a slot-guy).

There were several clips of Tate rolling out (and he looked decent throwing the ball on the run); so for my 2 cents, given that Tate is expected to have much more mobility than 'Shotgun Sheridan and Threet' I expect RR and co. will make efforts to establish Tate as a run-threat early on to open up the TE/slots.

Of course, this theory also proclaims: 'potential injury to twiggy frosh QB be damned'. But last year RR tried to establish frosh QBs Threet and Sheridan as runners early (unfortunately to mediocre results, ce'est la vie), so I expect Tate to be run early too.

Slightly OT: I think I recall Tate describing himself as a Jeff Garcia type mobile QB. If anyone has any recollection of the SF 2000 season that Garcia was at his best, what plays from the 49ers playbook that year might do well in ours next year? Spread attack with west-coast undertones perhaps? (Ok, so Garcia had Rice and Owens to chuck to; we don't. But Garcia did throw to Charlie Garner A LOT, and also quite a bit to TE Greg Clark.)

There's definitely a distinction between pro-style passers and mobile passers. However, there's no recent evidence to suggest that tight ends will become a primary target. If I remember correctly, the tight ends at WVU in 2007 had zero catches. Last year's QBs didn't throw to the tight ends much.

And Rodriguez's offense (in the past) has generally asked the quarterback to throw from the pocket. He doesn't rely on moving the pocket or play action bootlegs much. Obviously all this could change, but I don't foresee a big difference between this year and last in that respect.

The "insiders" who have watched practices have all said that Koger would be seeing a lot of time this year. RR did go to OK to get a glimpse of their offense, and our WR's are all inexperienced. Maybe he will see a lot more passes his way this year? Maybe not, but the potential is there for it to happen.

There's too much that can happen (batted balls, overthrows that get picked off by safeties, a linebacker that goes unseen, etc.).

Conversely, if you become so risk-averse that you shun the middle of the field on the vast majority of your pass plays, you end up making your sideline throws more difficult to complete, since DBs know to anticipate and jump them.

but I can't help to think in the interest of speculation, which is all any of this is btw, that Forcier specifically seems to present the most valid triple-threat in bootleg play-action. Threet showed signs of being a double-threat from the shotgun into a possible QB draw. But with Tate, his hype is his accuracy on the move; seems any tape of the kid you see, he's moving the pocket left or right before throwing.

In all likelihood you'll be proved correct; unless Tate is showing epic signs of super-stardom, Coach Rod probably won't add many wrinkles to the playbook to complicate matters for his young squad. I don't think it will be a staple of the Wolverine offense next season, but I do foresee Tate in a play-action bootleg.

From what I remember of his tape, it seemed like he was scrambling because his line sucked. He was very good at throwing on the run, but I think that's just an added bonus, not necessarily a talent that will be put on display every time we pass the ball. I think Rodriguez will continue to throw from the pocket mostly - although rollouts will probably be more common than they were, especially considering Forcier's lack of height - but if he's forced to scramble, Forcier can still be a downfield threat.

I think that's a really solid point. A young QB's got to get some separation from those 6'7" guys in the trenches to test and get confidence in his throws; of course, we'll see how it all plays out in the Fall.

PS- great job with your blog. I click in from time to time and I have to say: like gsimms, you've got a knack for explaining in layman's terms some cool coaching points (ex: your explanation of the difference between man blocking and zone blocking; very well put). Lots of good info on the recruiting front.

This speculation is all pointless because Shoelace is so fast that he is going to take it to the house every time he touches the ball. Tate will only be brought in to run down the clock and take a knee.

I was looking at Kroger's profile on Rivals and noticed OSU recruited him. The person listed as the recruiter was "Dick Tressel". I thought it was just a nickname given by the Rivals guys, but Jim actually has an older brother. Who is the RB coach. Named Dick.